Deanna Hartley Kelso has served in numerous positions as an attorney and jurist with the Chickasaw Nation since 1997. She first served as Legislative Counsel with the Legislative Department from 1997-2001. In 2001 she was appointed to the position of General Counsel for the Executive Department. In 2004 she was appointed as the Attorney General, serving in that post until 2014 when she went into private practice. While in private practice from 2014 to 2020 she worked on tribal and environmental litigation matters, served in the Judicial Department as Court Advocate from 2015-2018 and was appointed Special Judge from 2018-2020. Most recently, she was appointed as District Judge in March of 2020 and continues to serve in that post. She also serves as an Associate Professor of Business Administration with East Central University and is the Boswell Endowed Professor for the Stonecipher School of Business. She previously taught as a adjunct professor in the Masters of Jurisprudence in Indian Law for Tulsa University College of Law, teaching Criminal Jurisdiction in Indian Country and other Indian law courses from 2013 to 2021 for both masters and juris doctor candidates. In terms of philanthropy, she served with the Oklahoma Bar Foundation from 2014 to 2024 as well as various posts with the Chickasaw Foundation since 2001.